(CNN) -- An aircraft part apparently from one of the airliners that hit the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, has been found in Lower Manhattan, New York police said Friday.

Part of a landing gear was discovered wedged between two buildings near ground zero and "includes a clearly visible Boeing identification number," police said in a news release. Police responded after surveyors working in the area called 911 to report they'd found "apparently damaged machinery," the release said.

"The NYPD is securing the location as it would a crime scene," police added.

NEW YORK (AP) — A 5-foot-tall piece of landing gear believed to be from one of the planes destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks has been discovered wedged between a mosque site and another building near the World Trade Center.

The part includes a clearly visible Boeing identification number, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said Friday. The twisted, rusted metal part has cables and levers on it and is about 3 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep.

The piece of equipment was discovered Wednesday by surveyors inspecting the lower Manhattan site of a planned Islamic community center, at 51 Park Place, on behalf of the building's owner, police said. The inspectors called 911, and police secured the scene, documenting it with photos.

The spot where the landing gear was found is about three blocks from ground zero. When plans for the mosque and community center were first announced several years ago, opponents protested that putting a Muslim facility near ground zero showed disrespect. Supporters cited freedom of religion and said it wasn't too close to where Islamic extremists attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

The medical examiner's office will complete a health and safety evaluation to determine whether to sift the soil around the buildings for possible human remains, police said.

Two hijacked planes slammed into the nearby World Trade Center towers in 2001, killing thousands of people.

A rusted 1.5 metre-tall piece of landing gear believed to be from one of the hijacked planes destroyed in the September 11 attacks has been discovered wedged between a mosque site and a luxury high-rise apartment building near the World Trade Center.

The twisted metal part includes a clearly visible Boeing identification number, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said. It has cables and levers on it and is about 0.9 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep.

"The odds of this being wedged between there is amazing," Browne said, adding it was not surprising that it went undiscovered for more than a decade given the location. "It had to have fallen just the right way to make it into that space."

Other World Trade Center wreckage had been discovered at the buildings and around the area in years past.

The piece of equipment was discovered Wednesday by surveyors inspecting the lower Manhattan site of a planned Islamic community centre, at 51 Park Place, on behalf of the building's owner, police said.

An inspector was on the roof and noticed the debris and then called police who secured the scene, documenting it with photos.

Police detectives and National Transportation Safety Board investigators will determine whether the equipment is from the American Airlines plane or the United Airlines plane that slammed into the twin towers on September 11, 2001, destroying the towers and killing nearly 3,000 people.

When plans for the Islamic centre, about three blocks from ground zero, were made public in 2010, opponents said they didn't want a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists attacked. They argued the site was "sacred" because landing gear from one of the hijacked Boeing 767 jets had punctured the roof of the building on September 11.

During street protests, they clashed with supporters of the centre, who said it would promote harmony between Muslims and followers of other faiths.

The building includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for three years. After protests died down, the centre hosted its first exhibit last year. The space remains under renovation.

Donna Marsh O'Connor, who lost her daughter Vanessa Lang Langer in the attacks and is a member of September 11th Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow, called the landing gear discovery "bizarre."

O'Connor is a supporter of the Islamic centre and said the fact that the plane fragment was found there "makes me think that this was the right place for a centre that was going to heal the divide."

In a statement, Sharif El-Gamal, the president of Soho Properties, which owns 51 Park Place, said workers called the city and the police as soon as they discovered the landing gear. He said the company is cooperating with the city and the police to make sure the piece of equipment "is removed with care as quickly and effectively as possible."

The medical examiner's office will complete a health and safety evaluation to determine whether to sift the soil around the buildings for possible human remains, police said.

Patricia Riley, whose sister Lorraine Riley was killed in the September 11 attacks, called the landing gear discovery "very strange."

"Twelve years later we are still finding remnants of the attack on our country," she said. "... For years to come we'll continue to find things that we didn't see before. Hopefully they'll serve as a reminder that we have to stay vigilant."

Outside the Islamic centre building, known as Park51, a police officer stood next to the door on Friday and a police barricade was set up to contain the many journalists who had gathered to try to see the piece of the plane.

The landing gear could not be seen from the sidewalk so commuters rushed by and looked quizzically at the gathering.

Among the bystanders was one immersed in the legacy of the attacks: Van Vanable, heading home from his job as an ironworker building the new 1 World Trade Center.

"Amazing," he said of the find. "There's still pieces to the puzzle."

The Park51 space, a former Burlington Coat factory, is a five-story, mildly run-down building. Renovations are expected to take years and would add an auditorium, a pool, a restaurant and culinary school, a child care facility and artist studios.

The piece of plane is wedged in an alley space between that building and 50 Murray St., a luxury loft rental building.

We learned through a Fox News headline today that there was “9/11 plane landing gear found in Lower Manhattan.” Getting to the text, the message softens a bit, to “Part of landing gear apparently from one of the jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, has been found wedged between two buildings.”

Apparently. The article never tells us which plane the landing gear came from, although it quotes the deputy police commissioner of New York City as saying that the gear has a Boeing number identification clearly identified upon it...

That pesky rope. Looks like someone tried to get that thing outta there at some point in time. Wonder why?

Any word on manipulation of the photos of it? Or are they legit?

Any regular people see it with their own eyes? As for the talking heads assertion that he saw that it said the word "Boeing" on it, I giggle. Obviously he's never taken a trip through "Fat Man's Misery". I'd like to see how he just KNOWS it is from one of the faux airplanes.

CTGal1011 wrote:Any word on manipulation of the photos of it? Or are they legit?

Is this sarcasm, CTGal? Why would it matter? We know that no planes crashed on 9/11, so we know that the photo, manipulated or not, is a fraud. It is certainly NOT landing gear from any of the 2D computer graphic "airplanes" that were a part of this made-for-tv movie.

I'm more interested in the motivations for this overly absurd article. Perhaps I'm just a narcissist, but I like to think this article is meant for us more than the general public. This is clearly mockery, courtesy of TPTB, who know there is nothing we can do to hold them accountable.

I think they are concerned that the attention paid to Sandy Hook and the Boston Hoax might start generating interest in a new look at 9.11. This is just a smart play on their part to contain the virus of doubt that is persistently spreading.

MrSinclair wrote:I think they are concerned that the attention paid to Sandy Hook and the Boston Hoax might start generating interest in a new look at 9.11. This is just a smart play on their part to contain the virus of doubt that is persistently spreading.

CTGal1011 wrote:Any word on manipulation of the photos of it? Or are they legit?

Is this sarcasm, CTGal? Why would it matter? We know that no planes crashed on 9/11, so we know that the photo, manipulated or not, is a fraud. It is certainly NOT landing gear from any of the 2D computer graphic "airplanes" that were a part of this made-for-tv movie.

I'm more interested in the motivations for this overly absurd article. Perhaps I'm just a narcissist, but I like to think this article is meant for us more than the general public. This is clearly mockery, courtesy of TPTB, who know there is nothing we can do to hold them accountable.

Indeed it was sarcasm. But I do like to see experts (on this site, especially) pick apart each photograph. I find it fascinating as I am completely ignorant in that area, and like to learn as much as I can.

Kelly said that mechanical part was wedged in narrow space measuring about 18 inches, and according to Kelly, a rope could be seen intertwined with the steel.

The commissioner noted that a piece of rope intertwined with the part looks like a broken pulley that may have come down from the roof of the Islamic community center.

Considering there was no plane to begin with, it is fair to say this hoax must be some sort of hoax.

I predict the suspicions about the landing gear being a planted clue will never amount to nothing certain, while the idea of the original event being real and having left real traces throughout the city will be confirmed.

From the beginning of this event they have staged their own opposition in the "truther" movement. They feed this movement with carrion like this story. The less definitive and the more open to controversy the better. The truthers become their best way of keeping the real story obfuscated at times when distrust in the government increases. Like passing a pipe to a crackhead, the truthers get their rocks...

I'm sure they have more tidbits like this in the pipeline to be strategically introduced at the most useful times. I'm also sure they have metrics for measuring rises and falls in public belief in various stories and ways of amping up the verisimilitude when needed...